1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of producing a lever of a lever-fitting type connector in which by pivotally moving the lever mounted on a female connector, a male connector is fitted to the female connector.
2. Related Art
There has been proposed a conventional lever-fitting type connector disclosed in JP-A-2005-122942 Publication. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the lever-fitting type connector 101 disclosed in JP-A-2005-122942 comprises a male connector 103 having fitting hood portions 102a and 102b, a female connector 105 having a female connector body 104 for fitting to the fitting hood portions 102a and 102b, and a lever 106 which is pivotally mounted on the female connector 105 and is pivotally moved so as to bring the male connector 103 into and out of fitting engagement with the female connector 105.
By fitting the female connector boy 104 into the fitting hood portions 102a and 102b, male terminals received in the male connector 103 are connected respectively to female terminals received in the female connector 105, and by disengaging the female connector body 104 from the fitting hood portions 102a and 102b, the male terminals are disconnected respectively from the female terminals. In this case, an insertion force required for inserting the female connector 105 into the male connector 103 can be reduced by leverage achieved by the lever 106.
The connector 101 includes a waterproof hood portion 108 provided at the outer periphery of the female connector body 104, and this waterproof hood portion 108 covers the fitting hood portions 102a and 102b when the female connector housing 104 are fitted in the fitting hood portions 102a and 102b. The lever 105 is pivotally mounted on an outer peripheral surface of this waterproof hood portion 108, and the lever 106 has fulcrum projections 109 which extend through the waterproof hood portion 108 to project toward the female connector body 104. Fulcrum retaining portions 110 for respectively retaining the fulcrum projections 109 are provided at the fitting hood portion 102 (102a, 102b) of the male connector 103. The fulcrum retaining portion 110 comprises an insertion-purpose fulcrum retaining projection 113 and a disengagement-purpose fulcrum retaining projection 114 both of which are provided at the hood portion 102b. 
The lever 106 has a generally U-shape defined by a pair of lever side plates 139 and 139 and an interconnection operating portion 140 which interconnects one ends of these lever side plates 139 and 139 and is manipulated for pivotally moving the lever 106. Holding piece portions 141 and 141 are formed respectively at the other ends of the pair of side plates 139 and 139. The fulcrum projections 109 and 109 are formed respectively on those portions of the side plates 109 and 109 disposed near respectively to the holding piece portions 141 and 141, and project inwardly (toward each other). When the lever 106 is pivotally supported on the female connector body 104, these fulcrum projections 109 and 109 extend through respective window portions (not shown) of the waterproof hood portion 108b, and project toward the female connector body 104b, and can be retainingly engaged with the insertion-purpose fulcrum retaining projections 113 and with the disengagement-purpose retaining projections 114.
Slot-like pivot holes 142 are formed respectively through intermediate portions of the pair of lever side plates 139 and 139. Pivot shafts 136 are inserted respectively in these pivot holes 142, so that the lever 106 is pivotally supported on the female connector body 104. Further, slide guide projections 116 and 116 are formed respectively on the pair of lever side plates 139 and 139, and project inwardly. When the lever 106 is pivotally supported on the waterproof hood portion 108b, these slide guide projections 116 and 116 extend through respective window portions (not shown), and project toward the female connector body 104a, and abut against respective lever slide abutment projections 117, and are guided respectively by these projections 117. Provisionally-retaining arms 144 and 114 of an elastic nature are provided respectively at those portions of the pair of lever side plates 139 and 139 disposed near to the interconnection operating portion 140. When the lever 106 is pivotally supported on the female connector body 104b, these provisionally-retaining arms 144 and 144 abut against respective provisionally-retaining step portions 138 of the waterproof hood portion 108a to hold the lever 106 in a provisionally-retaining position relative to the female connector 105.
The interconnection operating portion 140 includes an interconnecting portion 145 interconnecting one sides of the pair of lever side plates 139 and 139, a lock arm 146 provided inwardly of this interconnecting portion 145, and operating surfaces 147 and 147 formed respectively on upper end surfaces of the pair of lever side plates 139 and 139. The lock arm 146 has a frame-like shape, and opposite sides of an upper portion of the lock arm 146 are integrally connected respectively with the inner surfaces of the pair of lever side plates 139 and 139, and a lock frame portion 148 is formed at a central portion of a lower portion of the lock arm 146. When the lever 106 is pivotally moved from the provisionally-retaining position to a completely-retaining position, the interconnecting portion 145 is disposed outwardly of the waterproof hood portion 108a, and the lock arm 146 is inserted in a lever holding portion 143. Also, a lock projection 121 of the hood portion 102a is engaged with the lock frame portion 148.
In the above connector, the interconnecting portion 145 formed between the side plates 139 and 139 interconnects the pair of side plates 139 and 139 to form the U-shaped frame body, and also prevents the lock arm 146 from being excessively deformed when the lock arm 146 is caught by a wire or others. However, the lock arm 146 is thus formed inwardly of the interconnecting portion 145 in contiguous relation thereto, and therefore a mold for injection molding the lever 106 into the integral construction is complicated in structure, and particularly a mold section for molding the lock arm 146 has a small size, and therefore there has been a fear that the mold might be broken.
And besides, the mold has such a construction that the mold section for forming the lock arm 146 is disposed inwardly of a mold section for forming the interconnecting portion 145, and therefore a space for receiving the mold section for the lock arm 146 need to be provided inwardly of the mold section for the interconnecting portion 145, and the small-size design of the lock arm has been limited.